As is known, in single-cylinder circular knitting machines the sinker ring, hereinafter called “sinkers”, is generally fixed coaxially at the upper end of the needle cylinder and extends outside the dimensions of the needle cylinder.
This arrangement of the sinker ring makes it difficult to use special needles, for example of the type disclosed in WO-02/070799, which allow to provide open-knit fabrics and knitting with ladderproof weave. Moreover, the presence of the sinker ring outside the needle cylinder, in known types of machine, is in any case a bulk that makes it more difficult to arrange devices that must face the needle cylinder laterally, such as for example needle control and actuation devices.